User login

Tuesday Skull Session

Good Tuesday to you ke-mo sah-bees. Welcome to your Tuesday Skull Session. Up is still up, down is still down, the sky is still blue (only when it's nice enough to not be gray), Jim Tressel is still Ohio State's football coach, and Michigan still has not defeated The Ohio State University in a game of tackle football in 2726 days.

Let's see... Tuesday, Tuesday. Sort of a slow release video game wise. You could always go pick up Okkervil River's "I Am Very Far". In fact, yes, do that. An interesting series has inexplicably broken out in Chicago with the Hawks headed to the Windy City all squared away with the favored Bulls. That Hockey Team Up North also looks to starve off a fate better than they deserve at home against the Sharks of San Jose at 8 too. Plenty of May 10th to go around. You could always pay homage to a certain #10 if all else fails. Let's go to it, shall we?

The new outfitter of your Ohio State t-shirt is... The Dallas Cowboys? If you too were in the dark on how Ohio State's incredibly lucrative memorabilia distribution racket works, well get in line. Evidently Ohio State's current provider deal is nearing its end and one of the most interesting names to come to light is that of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. Talk about diversifying during the lockout. So how does this all work exactly?

How OSU's move is received likely will depend on the execution, said veteran retail and marketing executive Dan Stanek of the Columbus-based firm Big Red Rooster.

"I think it will depend on who the supplier ends up being, and what the effect is on existing businesses," Stanek said. He said it would look worse if the variety of products and local businesses are being diminished.

Stanek said he wouldn't expect more negative reaction to the Cowboys getting the OSU business than a big manufacturer such as North Carolina-based VF.

"The Cowboys are just a company," Stanek said. "There will be some change regardless, but it should be minimal to the majority of people if the deal OSU goes with isn't too exclusive and restrictive."

I get it, the Cowboys are evil. But they're certainly no more evil than fellow soulless faceless corporation-B. Whatever helps tOSU win the balance sheet is cool by me.

Psst...Wanna hear something dumb? Wanna know a secret? The NCAA may totally could investigate this thing Ohio State is currently self-investigating. Maybe. HA HA! Local TV News!

Columbus-based sports agent said on Monday that the NCAA will likely investigate allegations that some Ohio State athletes received special deals on vehicles.
"The NCAA has to take these allegations very seriously," said sports agent Bret Adams. "Some people would look at it as piling on at this point, but it's certainly different than some of the previous allegations in that it involves cars instead of tattoos."

Hard-hitting y'all! To counter these bold claims, we turn to Goodwin Sports agency representative Nate Jones for the last word on the subject:

yes.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Tampa: Where everything goes to die. ​Jim Tressel's first act of contrition for the controversy currently surrounding the Ohio State athletic program? An all expenses paid vacation to scenic Tampa, Florida!

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch confirmed Saturday that Tressel would take part in the NCAA-sponsored event June 6-10 at a resort hotel on the waterfront.

One of the topics of the compliance seminar — one of two put on by the NCAA this summer — is “Division I Major Infractions.”

No word on what day the time share pitch takes place.

#RonP4Bauserbro. ​ESPN's Adam Rittenberg is hopping on the Bauserman-as-Trent-Diler-2k1 meme as well:

Here's the ironic part about Ohio State's first five games this season: The Buckeyes figure to play a ton of Tressel-Ball without Jim Tressel.

While Tressel serves his suspension, the Buckeyes likely will employ the strategy that has brought them tremendous success during the coach's tenure. You know the core principles: stout defense, field position, conservative offensive play calls, polished special teams and, most important, fewer mistakes than the opponent.

Ohio State often plays Tressel-Ball with a full complement of starters, so it's hardly a stretch to suggest the Buckeyes will turn to the scheme as they try to survive the first five games without top quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four others.

If Tressel-Ball is in the forecast for Ohio State, Joe Bauserman most likely will be, too.

Am I the only one who doesn't see how Tresse-ball = unathletic, undynamic QB. Even Krenzel was the leading rusher in the Miami game. "Tressel-ball" is most effective with a dynamic athlete under center. The slow, plodding, pocket-passer preference is a myth.

Krenzel wasn't really athletic, though. He just didn't need to be. Scrambling from the quarterback position is really more about vision and decision making that pure speed, because the defense will occasionally have to leave parts of the field open to you. I don't remember Krenzel ever making someone miss, he was just barely fast enough to get some yards before they caught him. Bauserman could fit that mold if his decision-making holds up. Boeckman did not.

I wish people who claim to know something about football would stop using the expression Tressel ball. We know what it means, but the perception of Tressel-ball is far more pervasive than any reality that it it may be attached to. It's become as cliche as "southern speed", or "SEC dominance"; a crutch for those "experts" who can't be bothered with facts.

The only element of Tressel-ball that is grounded in reality is probably "stout defense"; but we've had a respectable variety of offensive sets; our special teams have been anything but predictable for a few years now and the only QB we've had that's been a true pocket-guy was Todd Boeckman.

You would have loved to imitate a party that had kids drinking from a keg that closely resembles one that would be illegal for kids at that age? You would want to waste the time of police officers who are obligated to investigate teen drunkenness due to the liability they would face by looking the other way? What astounding character you have based on that one comment. [Granted there is a whole lot more to a book than just one chapter] I understand what the kids did. They were trying to make a point that it is possible no matter how slim, that when you see kids at a party they shouldn't automatically be presumed intoxicated. What they fail to realize is that appearances often lead to presumptions. While presumptions aren't always correct, some of them mandate persons of responsibility to investigate and ensure the safety of those involved.

Scenario 2: Said party is hosted and due to the amount of kids at this party manpower is heavily consumed on this one event. Now a real cause for police to be dispatched occurs on the other side of town. Now we have the majority of our officers tied up at the location of this gaffe and unable to assist the public or other officers at another location.

I know you said you would have loved to do this as a kid [not an adult] but I think the attention it is getting is misplaced and positively reinforces an act that could be detrimental to public safety.

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

They have to. They are obligated to. Should they be required to do so? No but society and their ambulance chasing defense attorneys have turned it into just that. You won't find any department across the nation that would leave one officer with 90 potentially intoxicated teenagers. The point of intoxication is mute. The numbers alone and potential for something negative to happen dictate that multiple officers are present. Haven't you read enough stories of officers looking the other way for intoxicated subjects and then being successfully sued? Multiple cases recently, one of an underage intoxicated girl being escorted home by boys. The officer asks them if they have her and if she will be ok? Instead of making a big spectacle about it and arresting her for Minors in Possession of Alcohol [Consumption or applicable charge] he turns his focus the other way. The boys end up raping her and the officer is probably going to prison or wont have a pot to spit in after a civil suite.

Second point, by your stance I would assume that you are young, possibly under 25. Maybe you are of the partying age still. Those that aren't that live around teens shouldn't have to suffer noise disturbance or even that of vehicle inhibiting a roadway. Some cities have a house party rules as a municipal violation. Obviously that wasn't mentioned here but the "They are kids, let them party stance" is about as irresponsible a comment as anyone could make.

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

We all know the story of the boy who cried wolf, but inferring a sexual assault would take place is a pretty ginormous strawman. I don't think anyone here isn't thankful for those who personally sacrifice and serve the community as law enforcement, but I think an equal number appreciate the situational humor as an act of youthful rebellion as a result of that one overblown negative experience they've had with someone abusing a position of authority.

None. I'm just saying the reason this is situationally ironic is that a large number of people have had some sort of negative experience (be it a police officer be a dick to them during a routine traffic stop or a like innocuous experience) that shifted their world view and/or some otherwise general distaste for authority. It's not a broad sweeping statement or broad condemnation of the good people doing amazing work on a daily basis. I know given your line of work you're unlikely to find it humorous, but it wasn't meant as a slight or disrespect or anything like that. Just a light hearted news brief that I'm sure plenty of people could relate to back when they were teenagers.

I certainly see the value in "shock" or sticking it to the man. It certainly is an eyegrabber which is the intent of any media source. The problem is that the sensationalism spawns similar antics and this type of thing can breed like material in a Petrey dish. I think I made a sound point that it wasn't the best course of action is all. I do understand your point Luke.

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

Right on man, I definitely hear you. From a deeper angle, they certainly were keeping the police from doing work that could've been potentially saving lives, protecting property, or otherwise and that's as uncool as it comes.

You are right, we have all had a poor experience with a cop being a dick. Personally, I don't have any reason to hate all cops because of the 1 or 2 experiences I've had. I can tell you, though, there are some police forces that are just strait assholes. We have a local municipality here in NKY that is pretty upscale, and the cops in that town are widely known for pulling over cars that have license plates from other counties, just to ask them what they are doing in their city. I had a very wealthy professor in college who was pulled over and harrassed, he go frustrated they jerked him out of the car and had a weapon drawn on him. He happened to be African American and driving through this town. That was all he did wrong. There is one officer on this force, who will sit outside a bar in the city when he's off duty in his personal car and follow people who leave the bar. If he suspects they are intoxicated he does a citizen's arrest and calls for backup. A friend of mine and I went to a football game in this town, we thought we were going the speed limit. We were pulled over, the cop said do you know how fast you were going? We said 35, he said sternly NO 37. Needless to say, I avoid this town now adays. All of these examples are to say, that some police forces deserve to get punked, and this group of idiots certainly does.

Funny thing though, when I was in high school there was a huge party, probably 500 people, all high school kids in a front yard of probably a 2 million dollar house. Because we were in that neighborhood and the parent of the kid was well connected, we never saw 1 cop car the whole night, and probably 90% of the people there were slamming beers, being rowdy, peeing in neighbors yards, blocking the street up from traffic etc. I respect cops for the most part. I certainly appreciate the work they do in my city, but there are some areas where they are certainly not worried about "protecting and serving" and they tie themselves up on non sense like harrassing people when more pressing issues could be attended to.

Everyone has a horror story about law enforcement. I bet Obama's buddy, the professor at unstated university would have one helluva story to tell on these blogs if there wasn't auditory evidence to support the officer.

Furthermore, no one can lawfully pull a car over to ask them "What are you doing in my town?" I didn't say it is not happening but it is unconstitutional to pull someone over without probable cause. At minimal you have to articulate some type of reasonable suspicion for a traffic stop and it must be reasonable. It can't be a white guy driving in the projects, a black guy driving in the million dollar suburbs, a vehicle with an adjacent county tag driving through your neck of the woods or any other popular propaganda someone is trying to deliver.

I would lay caution to the retelling and judging of officers by the word of people involved in the incident. Often, folks do things they don't remember doing until they are shown those things on video or audio. Case and point: Was it Georgetown, the school employing the professor I spoke about?

You didn't state the speed limit that you were exceeding. You may not have been but still a radar/laser gun is built to be forgiving for arguments sake. So he disagreed with you on the speed you were going. What was the limit and were you over? If you weren't over then so be it. Take it to court where it belongs. I agree it the limit was 35 and you were going 37, then that is a petty reason to pull you over but a limit is just that. Limitations.

I don't see how officers are getting punked. They tested the teens like they are required. It is their responsibility to do so. They left and it was a non issue except for the part that the kids wanted to make demonstration to show the school that they should get the benefit of doubt. I agree with them but the suspension had to come with more information than just red cups. That bird don't fly in any court and there was not enough "Probable Cause" [if we are holding the school to the same standard] to uphold a suspension. the likely culprit is lack of journalism on behalf of the reporter to make story sound more sensational.

If I were a cop [not stating I am] I would apologize on behalf of the percentage of officers that give the gigantic number of officers that serve with pride across our nation, a bad name or don't represent their departments to their fullest.

Encounters with Officers that take things personal is common enough. Think about it though; How many hundreds of thousands of officers are there across America? Is it unreasonable to think that at least 1 thousand of them are representing in a lack luster manner? they are the ones that get all of the negative publicity. That directly correlates with the Buckeyes Football Team. There may be many that bought cars at a discounted rate but what does that say about the other 80-90% that didn't? Judging every cop based off of a bad experience is no better than judging any other profession or to a somewhat lesser degree. Ask yourself was it really a bad experience or did I just get put in my place by some authority. Then ask whether you have contempt for authority. [Apologies for the length guys]

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

The speed limit was 35, that's why we responded 35 and he retorted back NO 37. I can tell you from personal experience and an overwhelming sample size of family, friends, acquaintances who have lived, driven through, or accidentally ended up driving into this town the last 30 years or more, that this is a culture among that force. Whether it's consitutional or not, the first thing they say is, your drivers license says your from Florence, why are you here? My friend had a grant county tag, because in KY the tag stays with the car until there is a new style plate issued state wide. So he had a grant country tag and a florence or Boone county address. We got grilled about why we were in this place ( a football game) why we had florence address and Grant County tags, which everyone in Kentucky, especially an official should know. These guys have a notorious reputation, this isn't just anecdotal. I have a friend who had a friend. Literally you mention this town, and 2 things are brought up. First the cops, 2nd a very good football team that resides there. These are the only cops I would say I don't like. They are in a town of 17,000 and you would think there would be much more pressing items than harrassing people and literally waiting outside a bar for people to walk out and follow them till the Eff up so you can try and slap a DUI on them.

I live in a community of 10,000 or so which shares a zip code with another community of about 20,000. We have 2 municipal police forces and county that patrol my area. We have way more police per capita than this town, but they choose to pull people over when they actually do something wrong, and deal with more pressing items. I've gotten a speeding ticket once here, rolled through a stop sign once too. 1 I got a ticket, the other I didn't. I wasn't mad about the ticket, I broke the law. These people do their jobs and do it well. The other town, collectively they are a bunch of A-holes. While their may be some nice guys, who aren't on a power trip over there, the majority are and can be classified as such. It's also worth noting that the extent of my legal troulbes in my life are the 1 ticket a mentioned before and 1 time I got a 25 dollar fine for not wearing my seat belt. So it's not like my tags, or my friends tags can be ran and connected to felonies, or a long rap sheet.

It sounds like that town has a different set of politics, pushing separate issues that need addressed. Asking why you are in this county, or where you are coming from or going to are common attics though. It doesn't mean that they believe you are doing wrong but they are in an evaluation stage during that portion of the encounter. I don't want to go into detail about how or what that entails but just know that it doesn't mean he automatically thinks you are the bad guy. Officers are killed for many things and asking questions helps them go home at night.

I forgot to mention that "Bird Dogging" is also unlawful. It shouldn't be done but that doesn't mean that it isn't. I would wager that a large portion of pubs, bars and clubs reside in a similar location in your town. Bird Dogging isn't much different than saturating a known trouble area. They are still in an area needing patrol the only difference is they don't watch subject A leave the bar and then get in the car. That invites trouble. If you can tell a subject is obviously drunk before getting behind the wheel then why would let him endanger someone else by driving away only to get a DUI arrest?

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

For what it's worth Irricoir, I think Police and Teachers are the 2 most important professions and probably the 2 most unappreciated professions in this country. I even said before my rant about the bad police force, that I'm not stupid enough to classify or judge all cops by the idiots that I have had poor experiences with. Police are humans just like anyone else, so for the large portion of our population that make up the police, there are going to be nice guys, fair cops, assholes, liars, criminals, and church going salt of the earth guys too.

I just always know there are some communities where the culture of their police differ greatly from the culture of the ones in my community. The non derogatory term I'd use is proactive. Yet, I doubt the tactics in the town I mentioned really uncover that much criminal activity, as say it would in a city like Covington or Newport.

The only time I've really been pissed by something someone wrote on these boards was several weeks back when that Bama fan killed those trees at Auburn. It was pointed out that this guy was formerly a cop and one idiot who will go unnamed went on to post how much he hated cops, who were basically guys that never amounted to shit in life and were only looking to harass people and abuse their authority. Even called him a "pig". I'm glad to see that this is a much more civilized and measured discussion regarding the police and the work they do. Nevertheless, I still feel compelled to respond. I'm a cop. I get that cops often make mistakes. I get that cops can sometimes be heavy handed. I get that some cops are just assholes (I work alongside a few). But I don't get what provokes people to make broad generalizations of all cops based on isolated incidents involving themselves, or worse, based on something they read which happened to someone else (I think the latter is actually more common than the former). I don't get how someone can just basically say "I hate cops." U.S. soldiers make mistakes and have sometimes done terrible things (Abu Ghraib for one). This doesn't diminish what the SEALs accomplished last week. We don't say "I hate soldiers." A few Ohio State football players did a stupid, selfish thing. JT did an even stupider, more selfish thing. This doesn't mean we're all going to stop rooting for the Buckeyes. We don't now hate the football team. So how is it that "I hate cops" is such a common sentiment?

This is more of a rhetorical question and something which is probably not appropriate for these boards. Much too involved and uninteresting to the majority of 11W readers. I'm probably just still venting over the dude who indirectly called me a pig on these boards several weeks ago. Luke, Irricoir, and BTAlberts, thanks for your perspective. I read with great interest.

My assessment was mostly if you can "hate" a group of people, in this case Cops, how is that different from hating any other group of people? Obviously hating cops isn't a racial thing because cops of either sex and race are hated differently. It is a group hate for no apparent reason. People that make that blanket statement sound just like the ignorant folk that type "I hate Blacks" or other expletives and those that type "I hate Whitey" or other expletives. To me personally, I hold that type of statement to the same regard.

On this subject and views of Law Enforcement I hate that the Goverment supports this guy who was invited to the Whitehouse to read on poetry night.

How it relates to Football is the that we have a few players that might of stretched their spending power and done something illegal. That doesn't mean every Buckeye Football player is out there violating rules. We shouldn't judge the whole by the sum.

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

I totally agree with you, it's a completely irrational attitude. I've found most people who truly hate cops, are people who have repeatedly done something wrong and have visited jail a few times. Please, no one judge me based on the statement I'm about to make, but it baffles me how someone can walk up to me while i'm wearing a national guard shirt(i'm not military, I just caught the shirt at a basketball game) and thank me for my service, but will NEVER do the same for cops. It blows my mind.

Of course I remember the A-hole cops, but I remember the really cool ones who helped me change a tire on the side of the expressway. I remember the ones who unlocked my door when I foolishly locked my keys in the car. We always call them when we need them, but rarely do we thank them for the work they do. I guess what I'm saying is Brutus and Irricoir(assuming you are a cop too) Thank you for your service!

Yup, but at a residential home? That is ill advised. They should have rented a lobby or a place that host these type of functions and the police wouldn't have been needed. They have a right to throw the party but not disturb the peace. Can anyone here legally keep 9o teenagers quiet and keep them from doing stuipid things over the course of an event called "a party"?

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

I agree with that sentiment. In a party sense, I meant one without alcohol. See just mentioning the word party and everyone assumes alcohol [or to a lesser extent drugs] are involved. Even without alcohol I wouldn't want to supervise that many kids.

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

In order for the protest to work, the cops had to show up, otherwise photos of young people drinking from plastic cups would just yield more suspensions. The police were used because they are the only organization that the school administators would respect, thus allowing the students to prove their point.

I understand that completely. It was farce that was staged and they needed the cops to add credibility. So now the officers are playing games for teenagers so that they can prove a point. They always say an officer wear many hats. I guess they just found another one. [Save it Denny]

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

In the waning days of Bill Martin's tenure as Michigan AD, the Department made a deal with Jerry Jones' merchandising company, much as you are talking about now.

Warning: It sucked. Previously, we had a nice local company; locally owned and operated with a nice little string of retail stores (called the M Den) and Michigan summarily dumped it, in favor of the deal with Jones' company. It turned out to be a terrible arrangement. The quality and selection of merchandise suffered. The availability of local retail operations suffered. It was bad all the way around. Last year, the deal expired and Michigan did not renew it. We are now back to the M Den.